Talk (i)Radio, the rumored Apple music service, a downer for Pandora shares

Shares of Internet radio company Pandora are sinking today amid news that Apple is preparing to roll out a similar service.

Apple has reportedly struck deals with major record labels as it gets ready to roll out a long-rumored cloud music offering at next week’s WWDC, its annual developers conference, in San Francisco. The Cupertino company’s deal with Warner Music Group, signed Sunday, gives the music label 10 percent of revenue — twice what Pandora pays, according to the Wall Street Journal.

And an Apple Internet radio service would just be another big Pandora competitor. The Merc’s Brandon Bailey wrote last month about Google rolling out a new streaming-music service called All Access; Spotify is growing; and Twitter is getting into the music business, too. Earlier this month, the Merc’s Heather Somerville wrote that Pandora was well aware that competition is stacking up. “Everyone’s competing for ears,” a Pandora representative said. Some reports say Apple iRadio would be most similar to Pandora.

Oakland-based Pandora is down about 11 percent to $15.15 as of this post. That’s about 13 percent off a 52-week closing high of $17.44, which it reached a couple of weeks ago.